For some years now, a colleague and I have been helping prospective applicants get into medical school.

Both of us are experienced psychiatrists. We started the GeMS course after realising that many of the current medical students we teach have little real grasp of what a career in medicine holds in store for them. We think that it remains an exciting, varied and interesting career with something to offer almost every personality… but that it also has real challenges and requires sacrifices.

It’s best to know about both the pros and cons in advance so students enter the profession with true insight of what it means to be a doctor. That should give them the best chance of a long and happy career.

Over the years, the course has been successful in helping get motivated candidates into medical school (last time we ran a survey, over 88% of respondents had got in).

We focus on helping candidates get in. There are regular courses covering how to choose a school, the application process, personal statements and interview skills. And we also have revision courses on the exams students need to pass – the UKCAT and BMAT – and run specific interview skills workshops.

The success of our UKCAT course led to our collaborating with publishers John Wiley & Sons to create UKCAT For Dummies which will help an even larger number of students.

It’s tremendous fun running these courses: we meet a broad range of students both on our courses in Oxford and when we visit schools around the country. And hopefully we’ve inspired some students who were on the fence to take the plunge and apply. But probably the best thing is hearing back from students once they get in.

If you or anyone you know is interested in applying to medical school in the UK, take a look!